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If your going to hitchhike, first, wear a shirt. If you want me to pick you up and your not wearing a shirt, well, I don't want your sweat all over my upholstery so you'll see me, pass you by. I, don't care how hot it is outside, you won't be getting in my car or truck.

Have your pack all secured, nothing dangling from it if you can help it. Why? Because getting in and out of a car / truck may ding / rip something when your putting it in or taking it out. 2nd pair of shoes should go into a nylon sack so your not going to leave dirt behind in the person that just gave you a 200 mile ride. It's just common courtesy.

Keep yourself neat, clean and presentable on the road. First impressions make a BIG DEAL of difference in getting a ride.

Carry a BIG, Mark-a-lot with you. It will help you get Rides, when you also use a Large piece of card board box to write on, telling the Direction of Travel that your headed to. NO FANCY writing. Just plain Large LETTERS. Make it easy for folks to read. Remember, they may be doing 40 miles an hour or more. Big Bold LETTERS.

Appreciates, that someone has stopped to pick you up and converse a little if they try and engage you with conversation. Makes the time go a bit faster. And when being dropped off, say "Thank you" or "appreciate the ride". It's just the descent thing to do and will garner you more rides to your final destination.

A smile, looking clean and together, with some simple conversation will get you to most spots anywhere around the world.

Stay Safe although Colorado to Cali should be good.
I hitch hiked with a friend all the way around the USA from Florida, Texas, NM, Cali, up the west coast to Washington, back across, Yellowstone and slowly back home.
Back in the 70's.
Actually we split up half way through.

Dont think I would do it now, but one thing I will say is it was an experience I will never forget, drifting around and meeting people of all sorts, and I mean all sorts.

As far as Hammocking, that's tricky. Your going from 110d+ in that shade, to colder temps if you go into the mountains. If I were hitching and hammocking, I would take a setup so that I could go to the ground. There are times you could get stuck with no place to hang.

Like we did. Stuck in the middle of BFE in south Texas under an overpass for 2 days with no water. Another thing to take, a good water filter and some chlorine in case you have to drink out of a mud puddle.

Basically just take a pad in case you have to go to the ground.
It will happen sooner or later.

I could say a lot of other things, but I will end with check your shoes in the morning.

Always read it and being paranoid we were out in the desert, woke up 1st morning, crawled out of the tent and I shook my boots out and a scorpion fell out.

One more. My friend had all his gear stolen by a trucker. HE dropped him off and his pack was in the back and he took off. IT was high dollar Kelty gear
and left him stuck int he middle of nowhere with nothing. He had to make it from the Colorado back to Fla with nothing, so make sure you have a back up plan and make sure you keep your gear close.

I pick up people whenever I can, a few things that will stop me from giving you a ride. Be alone, I'm not giving two guys a ride. NO DOG!!! No dog is getting in my super clean truck. Shave, the cleaner the better. Smile and wave. I've stopped when I wouldn't have for a wave. Be careful and have a good trip.

I talked to a guy from REI about this.
Hanging from boulders and rocks.
off the record, he told me to get a couple of pro nut stoppers.
you can slide them between the cracks of the boulders and hang from those.

I talked to a guy from REI about this.
Hanging from boulders and rocks.
off the record, he told me to get a couple of pro nut stoppers.
you can slide them between the cracks of the boulders and hang from those.

or you could use some small climbing rope, tie a knot the ends, stick that in the boulders and hang your hammock from there.

If you are going to buy climbing pro to hang from boulders, a set of Tricams would be far more versatile than a set of nuts. Tricams can be placed in two different ways - an "active" mode that uses torque to cam into the rock, which works in placements which flare outward, and a "passive" mode that will work pretty much the same way as those nuts, and is good for constricting placements like cracks and the like.

For the weight, I'd gladly go with the tricams. That said, I do carry my tricams when I go hammock camping sometimes, and so far I've never actually had an opportunity where using them made much sense.

good reason not to buy anything. rei is a great resorce, but face it- they're there to sell product!. money that's probably better spent on a good meal or ten! you could buy every possible chock,nut to cover any possible crack that you might encounter. and still hit that one situation where a simple peice of fire wood jamed into a crack will save the nights hang. found materials...what a concept! extra rope(cheap enought so that cutting it up won't be painfil) will serve better than most anything else a person could drag along in the pack

I think tht getting two sticks in the dessert will have to suffice. I don't know much about dessert camping but if this dessert you're talking about is basically sand dunes, then I would go with the $20 Walmart trekking pole option that another HF member suggested. If the poles are collapsable, I would take them apart and stow them in my pack so that they wouldn't stick out.